Iowa’s estimated 890 miles of levees provide protection for urban, suburban, and agricultural lands near waterways that would otherwise be subject to frequent flooding. Iowa’s 462 miles of documented levees are functioning adequately with typical stream flows, but 57 levees are only minimally acceptable and 18 are unacceptable. Several levees in Iowa are not in compliance with FEMA and/or USACE guidelines. At present, all new levee designs are sent to the Department of Natural Resources for review prior to construction, and although this review is thorough, funding and staff are not available for follow up once these levees are constructed. The new federal Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 will streamline the inspection and funding process, provide Iowa funding to enforce levee maintenance and oversight, and reduce the time required to design and construct new levees; however, the impact of this legislation will be limited by funding received.
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Aviation
Bridges
Dams
Drinking Water
Energy
Inland Waterways
Levees
Rail
Roads
Solid Waste
WastewaterA: Exceptional, B: Good, C: Mediocre, D: Poor, F: Failing, ?: Incomplete
Each category was evaluated on the basis of capacity, condition, funding, future need, operation and maintenance, public safety, resilience, and innovation
Aviation
78 public-use airports
Bridges
5,043 of the 24,398 bridges are structurally deficient
Bridges
$56 million in bridge funds came from the Federal Highway Bridge Fund in 2011
Dams
91 high hazard dams
Dams
23% of the state regulated dams have an Emergency Action Plan
Drinking Water
$5.9 billion in drinking water infrastructure needs over the next 20 years
Energy
10.309 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy every year, ranking it 10th
Hazardous Waste
11 sites on the National Priorities List
Inland Waterways
490 miles of inland waterways, ranking it 19th nationally
Levees
889 miles of levees
Ports
10.3 million short tons of cargo in 2012, ranking it 35th nationally
Public Parks
$3.0 million of unmet needs for its parks system
Rail
15 freight railroads covering 3,897 miles across the state, ranking 11th nationally by mileage
Roads
$935 million a year in costs to motorists from driving on roads in need of repair, which is $422 /yr per motorist
Roads
10,560 of the state’s 114,438 public roads are major roads, and 12% are in poor condition
Schools
$4.7 billion in estimated school infrastructure funding needs
Transit
21.3 million annual unlinked passenger trips via transit systems including bus, transit, and commuter trains
Wastewater
$3.4 billion in wastewater infrastructure needs over the next 20 years
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